Instructions for doing your FIT test and using the FIT aid

The FIT aid is a device that has been created to help you to easily and independently hold, open and close the bottle for FIT testing.

This webpage contains instructions for use in different formats including; audio file, video, audio transcript and large print which can viewed on screen or downloaded.

Audio Instructions

Find here an MP3 file with audio instructions introducing the FIT bottle and the FIT aid. The instructions will explain how to do your FIT test and how the FIT aid can be used to help you.

Video Instructions

Find here a video introducing the FIT bottle and the FIT aid you have received. The video will show you how to do your FIT test and the different ways that the FIT aid can be used to help you. It has detailed audio instructions and on-screen captions.  

Transcript

The audio transcript from the video and audio file is available to view and download by clicking here.

Download the instructions

A copy of the instructions you have received with your FIT aid can viewed and downloaded by clicking here.

Or scroll through the instructions on screen below

Instructions for doing your FIT test and using the FIT aid

A FIT bottle held up in a pair of hands against a white background.

You have been given a FIT bottle and a FIT aid by your doctor.

You will collect a small amount of poo into the FIT bottle.

There is liquid in the bottle, it shouldn’t spill but please do not squeeze it out.

A close up of the FIT aid with the FIT sample bottle to the left of it.
The open FIT bottle standing up in the hole in the FIT aid.

The FIT aid will make doing your test easier. You can use it to help with holding and closing the bottle.

The oval hole on the side is a stand that will hold the bottle in place.

A close up of a pair of hands using the channel in the FIT aid to slide the lid into the FIT bottle.

The channel in the middle is used to slide the lid into the bottle to close it.

How to do your test

When you are ready to do a poo and complete your FIT test take these items into the bathroom with you:

  • A clean empty container to catch your poo

  • Your FIT test bottle

  • The FIT aid

  • A pen

A close up of a pair of hands holding up the FIT bottle showing the example date 25/05/2023 written on the bottle label.

  1. Write the date on the bottle label.

If you need any help adding the date to the bottle please write on the plastic bag or ask for help.

A clean empty takeaway container being placed into a toilet bowel.

2. Catch your poo

Put the clean empty container into the toilet bowl or hold the container in your hands to catch your poo.

Do your poo and then wash your hands.

A takeaway container with a poo inside sitting on a windowsill. The FIT aid is lying on the windowsill to the right of the container.

Take your container out of the toilet and put it down somewhere flat nearby.

A close up showing a pair of hands opening the FIT bottle, the person is twisting off the lid and is pulling the stick out of the bottle.

3. Open your FIT bottle.

Grip the lid and twist it around until loose

Pull the stick up and out of the bottle.

Leave the open bottle nearby or in the FIT aid until you need it.

A hand holding the FIT bottle stick scrapes along the surface of a poo inside a clean takeaway container. The open bottle is held in the other hand to the right of the image.

4. Collect a small sample using the stick

Scrape the stick back and forward along your poo until the grooves on the end are covered.

A hand holding the stick with a small sample of poo on the end.

Only a very small amount of poo is needed for the FIT test, do not add extra.

Using the FIT aid to finish your test

The open FIT bottle standing up in the hole in the FIT aid.

You can use the hole on the side of the FIT aid to stand the bottle upright.

This will help you to get the stick back into the bottle.

A pair of hands using the channel in the FIT aid to slide the lid into the FIT bottle after a poo sample has been added to the stick.

Or you can use the channel in the middle of the FIT aid to close your bottle.

  • Lie the stick and bottle down facing each other and slide them together.

  • The lid will slide into the bottle.

A pair of hands using the channel in the FIT aid to slide the stick into the bottle to close fully with a click.

Push the lid and bottle together until you hear a ‘Click’.

Hands holding up the closed FIT bottle after the sample is done. The FIT test is now complete and ready to post.

Check your FIT bottle is closed properly, it should feel smooth and have no gaps.

What to do next

  1. Tidy up and dispose of your poo

Tip your poo into the toilet and flush away. Put your used container and the FIT aid into the bin.

Wash your hands.

2. Pack up your FIT bottle

Before it is sent off for testing check the sample date is written on the bottle label.

Put the FIT bottle into the plastic bag provided.

3. Return your finished FIT test to your GP

It is important that the sample is sent for testing as soon as possible.

Don’t delay in handing it back into your GP Practice.